The governing body for high school sports in Pennsylvania has sent a letter to Governor Tom Wolf giving reasons why high school sports should be played this fall and not be delayed until the start of next year.
Last Thursday, Wolf made his recommendation on high school sports known during a news conference, saying that he felt high school sports should be delayed until January 1st, 2021, and that prompted the PIAA the next day to delay the start of the fall sports season for two weeks to talk things over. Yesterday, a letter from PIAA Executive Director Bob Lombardi to Wolf was released, and that letter included a request to discuss “possible sports options.”
In the letter, Lombardi said that while some schools may not be able to play some or all sports, they feel that there is still a “viable path to permit students in many schools the opportunity to participate in interscholastic athletics in a controlled, healthy and safe manner.” He also felt that cancelling interscholastic sports will not eliminate the risk of coronavirus transmission as student-athletes will find other outlets and just shift the risk to other venues that lack the oversight needed to stop the spread.
Lombardi also said in the letter that the PIAA wants to have a dialogue with his office and craft an approach that would receive the approval of all involved. A spokesperson for the Wolf administration said that the administration has been in touch with the PIAA to try and set up further discussions.
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